by Anthony Robbins

This entire book is about producing results through personal
power. Power is simply "the ability to act." Since ancient times, power
has been the commodity of kings. Power originally came to those who were strongest
physically. Later, it came to those who had a special heritage through royalty. More
recently, it came to those who had the greatest wealth or capital. Today, those who
possess specialized and valuable knowledge have the greatest capacity for power. People
who have attained excellence follow the Ultimate Success
Formula (USF):

Know precisely the desired outcome.

Take massive action to achieve the outcome.

Notice quickly whether the action is working.

Change the approach as required to attain the outcome.

These powerful people of modern times share seven common traits:

Passion!

Belief!

Strategy!

Clarity of Values!

Energy!

Bonding Power!

Mastery of Communication!

II. The Difference that Makes the Difference

Success can be defined as simply "getting what you want." The difference
between successful people and unsuccessful people is their ability to manage their
physical, mental, and emotional states regardless of outside
circumstances. A new science called Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
studies the structure of an individual's subjective experience of
objective reality and provides instruction on how to alter that subjective
experience to allow the individual more power to direct his or her own life. This science
is key to replicating the results of successful people through a process called modeling.
Three fundamental ingredients of a successful person's life must be modeled in order to
produce identical results:

The Belief System

The Mental Syntax

The Physiology

III. The Power of State

A state is the sum total of a person's experience at any moment in time. A state has
two components: internal representation and physiology.
A person's state ultimately drives that person's behavior from moment to moment. The
science of NLP empowers the individual to master his or her own states and consequently
his or her own behavior patterns, thus assisting that person with producing desired
results.

IV. The Birth of Excellence: Belief

A belief is any guiding principle that provides a sense of certainty about meaning and
direction in life. There are five general reference sources upon which
beliefs rest:

Environment

Past Events

Knowledge

Past Results

Imagination of Future Events

The Success Cycle is represented below:

V. The Seven Lies of Success

The word "lie" in this context does not mean "to be deceitful or
dishonest." Rather, it is a useful way to remind readers that no matter how much they
believe in a concept, they should be open to other possibilities and continuous learning.
The following seven beliefs can be found again and again in successful people:

Everything happens for a reason and a purpose, and it serves me.

There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.

Whatever happens, take responsibility.

I do not need to understand everything to be able to use everything.

People are my greatest resource.

Work is play.

There is no abiding success without commitment.

VI. Mastering Your Mind: How to Run Your Brain

This chapter covers a broad range of topics on subjective experience.

Traditional Psychology versus Neuro-Linguistic Programming

The traditional school of psychology treats the brain like a tank that fills with
emotional liquids and assumes that if the tank is not drained regularly, it will
eventually overflow. The NLP model of the brain treats the brain like a computer that runs
different programs at different times, and assumes that the individual has within his or
her conscious power the ability to choose which programs will run and even to erase or
rewrite programs.

The Structure of Human Experience

The structure of human experience is based upon a human being's five senses, or modalities
of perceiving the world: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, gustatory. Each of
these modalities are in turn composed of ingredients called submodalities,
such as color and brightness for visual, volume and tempo for auditory, etc. The power of
negative past events over one's state can be diminished or even eliminated by the scramble
of one's own internal representational submodalities of those events, e.g. diminishing
brightness and volume, etc.

Association versus Disassociation

Another important distinction is association versus disassociation:Association: An individual experiences the internal representation of a
past event as if he or she were in his or her own body again.Disassociation: An individual experiences the internal representation of
a past event as if he or she were watching from outside his or her body.

The Swish PatternOne mental tool for making a behavioral change more automatic and consistent is
the swish pattern, which consists of three steps:

Form an intense, fully associated internal representation of the behavior to be changed,
including the pain you feel from the behavior.

Form an intense, fully disassociated internal representation of the new behavior that is
desired, including the pleasure you would feel from the new behavior.

Swish the two pictures in your mind so that the old behavior automatically triggers the
new behavior. The swish itself is done as follows:

Make a big, bright picture of the old behavior.

Make a small, dark picture of the new behavior in the lower right-hand corner of the
first picture.

In less than one second, simultaneously and enthusiastically say the word
"wooosh" and have the small picture grow in size and brightness until it bursts
through the big picture and smashes it to smithereens. Pause to experience the new state
fully.

Open your eyes to break the state.

Close your eyes and repeat steps a-d again at least five times. Speed and repetition are
key to the success of the swish pattern.

If the old behavior pattern appears again, repeat step e with ten to twenty repetitions.

VII. The Syntax of Success

Syntax, or strategy, is the order in which actions are taken. Duplication of another
person's strategy allows duplication of that person's results. A system for representing
another person's sensory strategy is available through NLP shorthand:

V Visual
A Auditory
K Kinesthetic
O Olfactory
G Gustatory

e external
i internal

d digital (words)
t tonal (tone of sound)

R Remembered
C Constructed

Different people have different strategies for achieving states of love, anger,
happiness, persuasion, etc. Knowing one's own strategies and those of others is vital to
achieving lasting success.

VIII. How to Elicit Someone's Strategy

By applying the following principles, a person's strategy for achieving any state can
be learned and accessed.

The Three Primary Modalities

The three primary modalities with which people align their subjective experiences are
visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. When communicating with another person, it is extremely
helpful to appeal to his or her primary modality.

Eye Movement and Accessing the Brain's Resources

A person's internal representation can be known by watching their eye movements.
Different locations of the eyes' focus reflects access to different internal sensory
systems. The chart below shows a fairly reliable mind-map for 90% of all people when
facing those people, with the remaining 10% being organized in a reverse manner:

Other Physiological Clues to Modal Accessing

CLUE/MODE

VISUAL

AUDITORY

KINESTHETIC

BREATHING

High in chest

Even

Low in the stomach

SPEECH

Quick bursts

Even

Slow and deep

FACE COLOR

Pale

Normal

Flushed

HEAD TILT

Up

Balance

Down

Strategy Elicitation

In this discussion, X represents a particular state, the strategy for which is being
elicited. That state could be love, anger, motivation, etc. Get the person into that state
by asking, "Can you remember a time when you were totally X'd?" Once the person
is in state, ask, "As you remember that time..."

"What was the very first thing that caused you to be X'd?"

Record the external modality.

"What did you do inside your mind at that point?"

Record the internal modality.

"What did you do inside your mind after that?"

Record the internal modality.

If the person is very X'd at that point, the elicitation is complete. If not, continue
eliciting syntax until congruent completion of state. After this is achieved, go back
through the recorded list of modalities and elicit the specific submodalities within each
modality. A written strategy will then exist for re-creating that state in that person.

IX. Physiology: The Avenue of Excellence

The cybernetic loop between mind and body allows a person to change
his or her physiology in order to change the way he or she feels. Posture, breathing rate,
and a host of other factors can be changed to improve one's state of mind and even health
at will. Norman Cousins, for example, laughed his way back to health from a normally fatal
illness. Congruency between mind and body is important to growing personal
power. Mirroring and matching another person in
a particular state will allow you to share the experience of his or her state.

X. Energy: The Fuel of Excellence

The Living Health program follows six basic principles:

The power of breath.

The consumption of water-rich foods as 70% of one's diet.

Effective food combining.

Controlled consumption.

Effective fruit consumption.

The protein myth.

SECTION II: The Ultimate Success Formula

XI. Limitation Disengage: What Do You Want?

In order to apply the Ultimate Success Formula, one must first know
the desired outcome. The following five rules provide specific
instructions on formulating desired outcomes:

State the outcome in positive terms.

Be as specific as possible.

Have an evidence procedure.

Be in control.

Verify the outcome is ecologically sound and desirable.

The 12-step goal-setting workshop follows:

Make a dreams list of things to have, do, be, and share.

Estimate completion dates for the dreams.

Pick the four most important goals for this year.

Review them against the five rules for outcomes.

Make a list of the important resources already yours.

Focus on times you used some of those resources well.

Describe the character you need to attain your goals.

Write down what prevents you from having the goals now.

Create a step-by-step plan to achieve each goal.

Come up with some models.

Create your ideal day.

Design your perfect environment.

As part of your "gratitude diary," make a list of all the things that you now
have that were once goals.

XII. The Power of Precision

Precise language has the power to move people in useful directions, while sloppy
language can misdirect them.

How to Get Whatever You Want: Ask!

Ask specifically.

Ask someone who can help you.

Create value for the person you are asking.

Ask with focused, congruent belief.

Ask until you get what you want using the USF.

The following chart can help one memorize key expressions that cut through verbal
fluff:

FINGER(Remember This)

RIGHT HAND(When You Hear This)

LEFT HAND(Respond With This)

PINKIE

Universals

All? Every? Never?

RING

Should, Shouldn't, Must, Can't

What would happen if you did? What causes or prevents?

MIDDLE

Verbs

How specifically?

INDEX

Nouns

Who or what specifically?

THUMB

Too Much, Too Many, Too Expensive

Compared to what?

The following are the NLP outcome questions:

"What do I want?"

"What is the objective?"

"What am I here for?"

"What do I want for you?"

"What do I want for me?"

Focus on how questions over why questions, i.e. focus
on how to solve the problem rather than just why the problem exists.

XIII. The Magic of Rapport

An essential tenet of NLP is that the meaning of a person's communication to other
people is the response elicited from those people.

Mirroring and Matching

The way to go from discord to harmony is to go from concentrating on differences to
concentrating on similarities. The more people are like each other, the more they will
like each other. Mirroring and matching another person's
physiology, tonality, and preferred representational system during interaction builds
rapport in minutes. This happens because communication between people is generally
transmitted in the following ratios:

Words 7%

Tonality 38%

Physiology 55%

Keen observation and personal flexibility are the two
keys to mirroring. The most effective leaders build rapport with the masses by appealing
to all three representational systems with a sense of congruity.

Pacing and Leading

Pacing is just graceful mirroring. Once one has established pacing
with another person in a conversation, he or she can begin leading that
person by initiating change rather than just mirroring the other person.

XIV. Distinctions of Excellence: Metaprograms

A metaprogram is a powerful internal pattern that helps determine how
a person forms his or her internal representations and directs his or her behavior. They
help to dictate the sorting of important data from unimportant data based
on context and stress. The following are the most common
metaprograms.

Moving toward versus moving away.

External versus internal frame of reference.

Sorting by self versus sorting by others.

Matching versus mismatching.

Persuasion by sensory building blocks and frequency of stimuli.

Possibility versus necessity.

Working style: independent, proximity, team.

Emotional versus logical thought.

Detail versus big picture.

Beginning versus completion.

People versus activity.

Supplemental: The Myers-Briggs Metaprograms

Extraversion versus Introversion

Sensing versus INtuition

Thinking versus Feeling

Judging versus Perceiving

The two ways to change a metaprogram are by either a Significant Emotional Event (SEE)
or by a conscious decision to change. Metaprograms can be used as a tool for the following
two actions.

To calibrate and guide one's communication with others.

To implement personal change.

XV. How to Handle Resistance and Solve Problems

The Agreement Frame

Flexibility is important to effective communication. Avoiding resistance from others
keeps others involved in what one is saying and leaves them open to new ideas. Avoiding negators
like "but" and "however" in communication goes a long way toward
eliminating resistance from others. The agreement frame allows one to
converse with others of differing viewpoints while neither creating resistance in others
nor compromising one's own values and beliefs. The agreement frame uses the following
three key phrases.

I appreciate and...

I respect and...

I agree and...

This process is a form of verbal aikido, redirecting force rather than
attempting to overcome it.

The Pattern Interrupt

People often fall into self-perpetuating patterns of negative or destructive behavior.
Interrupting that pattern with a totally unexpected action can have lasting effects on
erasing that pattern from that person's behavior while replacing it with a new, empowering
pattern.

XVI. Reframing: The Power of Perspective

Reframing in its simplest form is changing a negative experience into a positive one by
changing the frame of reference used to perceive the experience. Reframing can be done
based on context or content. The following six-step
reframing process changes undesirable behavior into desirable behavior while maintaining
the important benefits of the old behavior.

Identify the pattern or behavior you wish to change.

Establish communication with the part of your unconscious mind (part X) that generates
the behavior.

Separate intention from behavior.

Create alternative behaviors to satisfy intention.

Have part X accept the new choices and the responsibility for generating them when
needed.

Make an ecological check for congruency of all parts.

XVII. Anchoring Yourself to Success

An anchor is a sensory stimulus linked to a specific set of states.
Anchoring is basic Pavlovian conditioning of the nervous system. The following are the
four keys to effective anchoring.

Put yourself (or someone else) in an intense, fully associated state.

Apply the stimulus (trigger) at the peak of the emotional state.

Use a unique stimulus or trigger. A handshake would not be very good,
for example, because your hand is frequently shaken.

Remember exactly how you set the anchor--the exact look, word, touch, etc., so you can replicate
the anchor you set in step 2.

An anchor can be linked to either positive or negative states. Anchoring happens all
the time, usually at an unconscious level. It is useful to make a chart of major positive
and negative anchors in one's life. One can then go about collapsing
negative anchors and making best use of positive anchors.

SECTION III: Leadership: The Challenge of Excellence

XVIII. Value Hierarchies: The Ultimate Judgment of Success

Values are a person's global belief systems about right and wrong,
good and bad, important and unimportant. To know fully what a particular value means to a
person, it is necessary to know that person's evidence procedure for
achieving that value. When a list of a person's values is made and ranked in order of
importance, a hierarchy of values results. To promote a harmonious
relationship, not only must common values be found, but the other
person's most important values must be supported and fulfilled
as much as possible. A person's values usually change over time. It is important to
maintain the flexibility necessary to keep one's most important values congruent
and in harmony so that no values conflict arises.

XIX. The Five Keys to Wealth and Happiness

You must learn how to handle frustration.

You must learn how to handle rejection.

You must learn how to handle financial pressure.

You must learn how to handle complacency.

Always give more than you expect to receive.

XX. Trend Creation: The Power of Persuasion

Modern technology has created media that can transmit worldwide influence and
persuasion. In today's world, persuasion skills are a necessity. One is either the
persuader or the persuaded. Using skills learned earlier in this book, coupled with modern
media technology, one can create global trends for either constructive or destructive
purposes. It is important to pay attention to the information one is broadcasting to the
rest of the world, as well as what one is permitting to go unfiltered into one's own mind.

XXI. Living Excellence: The Human Challenge

When one understands and applies the technology presented in this book, that person has
access to his or her own Unlimited Power. The consistent application of
these principles can allow the reader to produce outstanding results in any chosen
endeavor. Producing values for oneself and others by becoming a team player can be one of
life's greatest joys.